Lord, Save Us from Your Followers
This gem of a film is currently in theaters in select cities around the country. If you’re like me, the title immediately caught your attention right away. Maybe it even made you say, “What? That doesn’t sound like something I want to watch.”
Well, you should watch it if you have the chance. Rather than being a mean-spirited poke-fun-at-Christianity-and-Christians outing, it’s an honest man’s chronicle of his journey…a journey to find out why people like Jesus but not Christians.
Face it, a large percentage of the population of the United States says they are Christians, but tune into almost any news show or talk show, and eventually you’ll hear arguments about what exactly that means. Does it mean we vote Republican or Democrat? Do we support Prop 8 or Prop 25? Are we pro-life and anti-stem cell research?
For some reason, being a Christian has come to be synonymous with political and cultural stands. If you claim to be a Christian, certain assumptions are automatically made about you, and they have less to do with the instructions of Christ and more to do with your voting record.
When he came back from a trip to Ethiopia, filmmaker Dan Merchant found himself in a country immersed in a re-election campaign that polarized people by their faith. But it wasn’t the faith that reaches out to the homeless, disenfranchised, and downtrodden, but rather the faith that separated people along cultural lines. Instead of asking “What would Jesus do?” people were asking “How would Jesus vote?”
Merchant’s film challenges us to look honestly at ourselves and the things we fight for. Is who sits on the Supreme Court really more important than loving our neighbor? And are we sacrificing the Gospel of love for the Gospel of being right?
If you have the chance, go see Merchant’s film. If it’s not in a theater near you, watch some clips on the film’s website and consider bringing it to your town.
This type of mentality is frightening. The reality is that Christians will follow what is taught in God’s word. If that means voting against gay marriage, because the Bible sais it’s wrong, then it’s a Biblical thing not a political thing. Pro life vs abortion is not a political preference it’s a Biblical standard. To say that Christians who do these things are intolerant is crazy. The crazy thing is that these people who preach love over the Bible never preach repentance and faith. That is the gospel message, repent of your sins and turn to Jesus in faith.
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I think you miss the point of the film, outtolunch.
The goal of the film is just to get people to stop yelling at each other, proclaiming that they’re right, long enough to sit down, have a cup of coffee and just talk about it. This isn’t a love vs. truth debate.
I believe it’s important that Christians stop being the wedge that drives people away from Jesus, and allow the Gospel to be that. You may believe that those who declare you intolerant, because you vote your personal beliefs, is crazy and you might be right. But how will you respond when you are accused? Will you fire shots across the bow or will you have a pleasant discussion?
We are all very complex people and if you don’t want to be generalized so negatively, then don’t generalize those who would disagree with you so negatively.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
outtolunch, you are right. Garrett, you are wrong.
Is that “polarizing”? Perhaps, but I think that you – Garrett – miss the point of the film, which is to marginalize those Christians on the right who stand for the truth of the exclusiveness of the Gospel.
As outtolunch proclaimed, “repent and believe” are essential to the gospel. You err in your belief that I, or any other Christian, are the “wedge that drives people away from Jesus.” The wedge that drives them away is “repent” from your sins. People who can’t do that will “naturally” be repulsed. That is unavoidable. There is no such thing as a “gospel of grace/love”. The Gospel message is a message of Love AND Truth. You cannot separate the two, or you deform and defame the Gospel.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Have you all seen the film? Make sure you do before passing judgment on it and on each other.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Angela – I indeed, have seen it.
Mark – There are some who choose not to believe in God, or that Jesus dies for our sin. If that was to describe everyone who wasn’t a Christian, then I could live with that. The Word is clear that Jesus didn’t bring roses and daisies and if people choose not to take Him as their savior, then there will be a price paid, in hell. I don’t believe, however, that is the case.
I would feel far better about being a Christian, if it was the Word of God turning people away. But, in America at least, I don’t think that’s the majority of people. I mean, if you watched the movie, Dan Merchant asks a lot of people what they think about Jesus. What political party they believe Jesus would be in…etc. All of their reports of Him were nothing but positive. Yet their view of His followers were mixed. You heard comments ranging from: “Trying to live the right life” or, “Caring” to, “Being really snobby”, “Fanaticism”, and, “Theatrics”.
Now, to be fair to us, their views of Jesus, and Christians, are probably based on what Dan Kimball calls the “Hollywood Lens”. But, even so…Jesus was certainly against a lot of things. Yet, that’s not what he’s remembered for. Why would I want to be remembered for the things that I’m against? To love someone isn’t to legitimize someone’s lifestyle. But to ignore the truth would also not help anyone, either. Like most people, I believe there is a balance: 100% truth in 100% love.
Love without Truth = No Impact.
Truth without Love = The Wrong Impact.
This movie, if anything, is just designed to 1. Be a wake up call to Christians that, hey, there might be something we’ve been missing as a Church and 2. To offer up a peace offering to those who may not be Christians by saying: “We just want to talk to you.”
October 16th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Hi Garret,
You say, “There are some who choose not to believe in God, or that Jesus dies for our sin. If that was to describe everyone who wasn’t a Christian, then I could live with that. The Word is clear that Jesus didn’t bring roses and daisies and if people choose not to take Him as their savior, then there will be a price paid, in hell. I don’t believe, however, that is the case.”
And therein lies your problem, that YOU, personally, cannot accept that premise. That’s ok. No one is here to force you to believe that, but you should be intellectually honest with yourself that the Bible does not allow for such a belief, because Christ, Himself, states that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; No man can come to the Father, except through Me.” (John 14:6) You can’t find a more exclusive statement than that.
You also say, “I would feel far better about being a Christian, if it was the Word of God turning people away.”
Then I would recommend that you don’t attempt to gather EVERYONE into the Christian tent by your opinions, but rather with the Word of God. If all you offer is God’s Word, in lieu of your opinion, then it will ALWAYS be God’s Word which turns people away, and not yourself – of course, this is assuming that you are being reasonable in the manner in which you deliver the message. Besides, if you succeed in gathering anyone to your opinionated understanding, they cannot, by a pure Biblical definition of the terms, be a Christian, except by name only.
That would be like me being an electrician, and recruiting all the plumbers I can find into my local chapter of electrical employees. Just because they have become “official” members by signing up, doesn’t mean that they are truly electricians. An electrician can jump into a plumber’s van everyday, and put on a shirt that says “Joe the plumber”, and that still won’t make him a plumber. A non-believer can use the title “Christian” all he wants, and go to church and accept the church’s teachings on many subjects, pay a tithe, donate his time to teach, and do all manner of good “works”, but it doesn’t make him a Christian. Only a personal relationship with Jesus whereby the sinner acknowledges that He is separated from God by his sins, and agrees to turn from those sins and turn and follow Jesus – that is the only way to become a Christian.
“For if you will confess with your mouth the Lord, Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes to gain Christ’s righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10
You also stated that all the people that were asked what they thought of Jesus, that “All of their reports of Him were nothing but positive. Yet their view of His followers were mixed. You heard comments ranging from: “Trying to live the right life” or, “Caring” to, “Being really snobby”, “Fanaticism”, and, “Theatrics”. Now, to be fair to us, their views of Jesus, and Christians, are probably based on what Dan Kimball calls the “Hollywood Lens”. But, even so…Jesus was certainly against a lot of things. Yet, that’s not what he’s remembered for.”
I address a lot of this stuff in my blog (which you can visit by clicking on my name). But I would remind you that the Bible states that we should beware of those times “when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) The key here is “when ALL men shall speak well of you.” The implication is that there isn’t anyone speaking against him. And that isn’t unusual, for even Luke explains that this same type of adulation was showered by “their faithers to the false prophets.”
In Dan Merchant’s case, you can scour the internet and not find any review which is substantially negative. That, I find, incredible. There are some “negative comments”, but they are mitigated by glowing statements regarding the Star Trekian possibilities of a socialist world order of peace, where money no longer exists, and no one ever goes hungry.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
“And therein lies your problem, that YOU, personally, cannot accept that premise. That’s ok. No one is here to force you to believe that, but you should be intellectually honest with yourself that the Bible does not allow for such a belief, because Christ, Himself, states that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; No man can come to the Father, except through Me.” (John 14:6) You can’t find a more exclusive statement than that.”
It’s my mistake for not clarifying, I re-read what I wrote and what I meant to say was: ” I don’t believe that people turn away from Christ simply because they don’t want to repent. If that was the case, I would be OK, with that. But I believe that it is Christians who turn away people, not the Gospel, itself.” My bad for the sloppy writing.
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I pretty much agree with everything you said. But one thing you wrote, is essentially what the entire part of the movie focuses on: “If all you offer is God’s Word, in lieu of your opinion, then it will ALWAYS be God’s Word which turns people away, and not yourself – of course, this is assuming that you are being reasonable in the manner in which you deliver the message.”
The definition of being reasonable might vary from person to person, but in the mainstream of things, who, on either side, can be seen as reasonable? There are some, sure, but in terms of media it’s usually “He who screams loudest, is heard.”
The trend I see, is that when our faith is questioned, we get really defensive. Early on, this was a big deal for me. Eventually though, as I grew in my faith, got in the Word, I didn’t have to anymore. Which leads me to believe that if I am in the Bible more, talking to Jesus more, then explaining doesn’t seem so difficult. I don’t have to get defensive because he/she who is questioning me can take it or leave it. I don’t have to be the wedge…the Word of God does that. And that’s the way it should be.
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I also have tried to find sour reviews of the movie and have only come across one in the 1 1/2 years the movie has been out. Though, I can’t find the review anymore, if that’s any indication. The review tagged the movie as “Liberal Christians picking on Conservative Christians”. And there have been negative views on the movie…I see two written right here and I can guarantee there are more out there.
Socialism, Liberalisma nd Conservatism, are all means relative to politics (nowadays anyways). Just because I believe homeless people should be taken care of, doesn’t mean I believe my government should be the ones doing it. I’m considered by my friends as a Libertarian. So you can imagine how far-right I really am. Yet, while I find fiscal responsibility and foreign policy are roles of government, I find see that, had the Church stood up and taken care of people like they were supposed to, no one would have ever seen a need for government to step in.
I’m getting off track.
Theologically, we believe the same things. From what I’ve read there isn’t much difference. The only thing that I see a big divide in, is how we interpret the events and behaviors of those around us. And really, it’s not that big of a deal. We love Christ, right? We love His people, right? So…let’s just go out and do it.
Garrett
October 17th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
all im saying is that i got a very eerie, uncomfortable feeling when i wathced the glowing 1 hour special on this. at 1 point i was like,” wow, thats awes…wait, that scripture is totally out of context. why do i feel like running away from this?” “Uhhh, thats not what Jesus meant dude.” *click*
March 25th, 2010 at 1:33 am